Continuous Improvement Culture

Success at Fortive doesn't just happen. We have a proven system for achieving it, based on the concept of continuous improvement at the heart of our values. We call it the Fortive Business System (FBS).

"Every single day, in my role, I learn something new. I learn how to do things better."

Gideon Fick, FBS Leader, Gilbarco Veeder-Root

FBS is the foundation of everything we do. It guides how we grow our portfolio, how we invent new products, how we drive strong results across our businesses, and how we develop our people. It inspires us to be and do better.

Every Fortive employee has the opportunity to learn and apply the powerful FBS toolkit to create real value for our customers and shareholders. It shapes a dynamic environment of unending learning and growth. It is the cornerstone of our shared culture and a powerful competitive advantage. It drives every aspect of our work. We use FBS to guide our decisions, assess what’s working and what’s not, and accelerate breakthrough innovation.

Background

FBS was born in the mid-1980s, when Jacobs Vehicle Systems, a Fortive company, faced intensifying competition using lean manufacturing principles. This focused improvement initiative exceeded expectations and evolved into a set of best practices and processes now known as FBS.

At Fortive, FBS powers a dynamic cycle. Our extraordinary teams are inspired by proven tools and processes that drive continuous improvement, innovations that serve our customers and superior performance for our shareholders. Superior performance and high expectations create a strong culture energized by opportunities for limitless learning and growth, which attracts extraordinary people to continue the cycle.

"Our teams are relentlessly focused on driving improvement and winning through FBS. We continue to demonstrate the power and use of FBS across our company – from improving product development to a leadership offering that builds extraordinary teams. We will continue to drive results through our passion to always be better."

Kirsten Paust, VP FBS Office

Driving Results

Our 2016 performance demonstrates our continued commitment to always doing and being better. Through the use of FBS our teams improved quality and on-time delivery, and gained share in their marketplaces. We held our first ever company-wide CEO Kaizen event, with 17 teams driving breakthrough results to exceed our customers’ expectations. We also opened our Fortive Business System University, which supports the development of our employees and teams around the globe as they learn and deploy FBS to deliver results.

Future

Of course, this deep commitment to continuous improvement means that FBS itself is always evolving. After all, our customers, and the technologies they depend on, are moving faster than ever before. Fortive leaders at every level are piloting new methods to manage risk and increase the pace of breakthrough innovation, so we are ready to lead our customers to new and better solutions and services.